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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. pop — music
  3. cap — a lid
  4. tube — the underground
  5. net — after costs
  6. net — for catching
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — child
  11. clip — for paper
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. clip — a video
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cap — of ice
  16. net — in sport
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. march — the month
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pop — to visit
  21. pop — soda
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. tube — a container
  24. lash — a whip stroke

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com